New HR strategies needed to staff oil patch

Canada's oil and gas industry is running on empty. There is plenty of fuel left in the ground, just not enough people to harvest it and send it to market.

Labour shortages, already severe in recent years across all areas of the sector, will only get worse if the industry doesn’t make some fundamental changes in the way human resources are managed, said Roger Soucy, president of Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC).

Sooner or later the oil companies are going to hit the wall, he said. The call will be made to start up a new rig somewhere and there just won’t be anyone to do it.